Teaching is in the family for secondary math teacher Nick Grolley, who had a special visitor on Wednesday, Jan. 25: his seventeen year old daughter, Mia! Mia spent the day at Heatly where she had the unique opportunity to shadow her dad and see what a teacher’s day entails.
Mia spent the day observing Mr. Grolley as he taught several classes and attended various administrative meetings. She listened and watched intently as her dad taught secondary students Consumer Math, Algebra 2, Algebra and Math 7.
Algebra is one of Mia’s favorite subjects, which has inspired her to pursue a teaching career. Ideally, she would like to become a middle school algebra teacher, something her dad knows a thing or two about. Both Mia and Mr. Grolley have spoken extensively about the idea, including the steps Mia would need to take in order to achieve her professional goal.
“We’ve discussed how becoming a middle school algebra teacher would play out for her, as well as the path to get there,” said Mr. Grolley.
After shadowing her dad teaching, Mia and Mr. Grolley had an afternoon filled with administrative meetings. First, they met with interim assistant superintendent Bruce Potter and discussed the rollout of a new program to help Heatly’s ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Next, Mia and Mr. Grolley attended a meeting on curriculum development with the district’s instructional coaches Illyne Weignberg and Stephanie Bouchey. Mia was an active participant, advocating for measures she knew would help Heatly students. Her insight was especially important since she’s a student herself.
In addition, Mia spoke about her experience with iReady, which is an online assessment and instruction platform for reading and mathematics. This platform is similar to the one Heatly currently uses called IXL. Mia was able to provide a student perspective, which “given the district’s focus on student voice, it was a welcome addition to hear from her regarding her experience with a similar program,” said Mr. Grolley.
At the end of the day, there were many takeaways from Mia’s visit. While she spent quality time with her dad, Mia was also able to get an inside look into the world of teaching. She’s already started the process to become a teacher, as she plans on attending Liberty University in the fall. She will major in Secondary Education and focus on mathematics, with the goal of one day becoming an algebra teacher like her dad.